Metro Line-3 muck may be used for building coastal road

MMRDA plans to give away muck excavated during tunnelling of the underground Colaba-Bandra-Seepz corridor to agency executing the ambitious coastal road project on Mumbai’s western seafront

With things falling in place for the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz (CBS) Metro Line-3, luck seems to be favouring the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and commuters who will benefit from the line.

One of the biggest issues pertaining to the construction of the 32.5-km CBS corridor, which will be completely underground and have 27 stations, was the disposal of the five million cubic tonnes of muck that is expected to be excavated while tunnelling.

However, the MMRDA seems to have found a win-win solution. It has been learnt that the body is mulling the option of giving away the muck to the agency which will be working on the ambitious coastal road project along the city’s western seafront, which can use it to reclaim land.

During a public hearing in 2012, most of the queries the MMRDA received pertaining to the Metro Line-3 were about the safe disposal of the muck. The MMRDA officials had then claimed that they had identified a few abandoned quarries in Navi Mumbai for the disposal.

A senior MMRDA official said, “The issue of transporting the muck was discussed during the authority meeting of the MMRDA last week. Suggestions were made for using the muck as raw material for building the coastal road and they were well received by those present at the meeting.

The authority is also considering the option of supplying the muck to various construction sites in Mumbai, where it can be used to increase the height of the plot.” The MMRDA will issue a Request For Proposals (RFP) from bidders in coming months, following which tunnelling work for the CBS Metro corridor will commence in 2015.